Anoushka Shankar Releases New Album 'Traces of You'

Out today, Anoushka Shankar's album Traces of You (Deutsche Grammophon) marks a significant step along her pathway as a musician and woman. The musical exploration on Traces of You was inspired by the idea that everything in the universe leaves an indelible mark, or a subtle "trace," on everything else it comes into contact with.

Last week Rolling Stone debuted the dreamy track "The Sun Won't Set" which she recorded with her half-sister Norah Jones. In addition, the Wall Street Journal premiered the song "Unsaid", another Jones/Shankar collaboration from the new album.

Having lost her legendary father, Ravi Shankar, during the recording process of Traces of You, it was inevitable that her loss became the central focus of the song writing. However, the record is ultimately hopeful rather than mournful; a juxtaposition of the sorrow surrounding the loss of her father alongside the joy of raising her young son, Zubin.

"I approached the album as a whole," she explains, "as opposed to a series of songs. A lot of it happened unconsciously. Life took a journey of its own and the music followed that form. The sitar leads the listener through the album like a narrator."

Among various accolades she has been nominated for three Grammy Awards, making her the first Indian female and youngest-ever nominee in the World Music category. As a classical sitarist she debuted professionally at the age of thirteen and has performed in prestigious venues such as Royal Albert Hall and Carnegie Hall (over a dozen times), and championed her father's orchestral works with the world's leading orchestras. Shankar will be embarking on a U.S. tour kicking off November 7th in Birmingham, AL (dates below).